Was not aware of this connotation - in the event we expand to Russia, should we go with something like 'Lockomatt'?

edit: Just looked up 'mat' in Russian. Seems like I'm really, really not having any luck here.

Indeed :)

This is a non-issue.

Look at MongoDB.

If you want to say "You're a retard" in German you'd say "Du bist ein Mongo". Mongo being short for mongoloid and just as `politically incorrect` as retard is in the English speaking world. If anything the name made the product more memorable for me (and I use it almost every day now)

Mongo is a horribly offensive word for the same thing in English too - at least in British English. I wonder if the developers knew that?

MongoDB is considered a complete joke by most who've programmed a distributed system.

So.... poor example.

For the first year or so I read about it, I though it was MnogoDB; as in, Mnogo Nukes. Woulda been a much better name.

Seems like a perfect name, then.

If anybody at Matasano is reading this, I want you guys to know something. In South America, matasano (also one word) transliterates to "killer of the healthy" and means "doctor who does more harm than good." It's slang, of course, similar to "shrink" and connotes...exactly what it means.

Interestingly tptacek commented on this saying - 'Matasano' ==> 'Last doctor you would go to'. And they were sad for a few minutes and then were 'very happy' with the name.

The implication being that 'Matasano' is the last doc you go to who 'CURES' you I guess...

Whenever I read Matasano I think Monsanto instead. They both start with M and end with O, and the inner consonants are similar.

And Monsanto does not have a great reputation...

'tptacek on Matasano the name: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4684845

Lockitron does not sound like lohotron to me in Russian. Not even close.

Reminds me of the marketing folklore around the Chevy Nova: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

"No va" means "he didn't go" in Spanish.

just like the japanese Mitsubishi Pajero in Spain: "pajero" translates to wanker/jerk in spanish

I'd wager that nearly any name is going to sound bad in some language. I don't know how important it really is to pay attention to this. If the Russian market ends up being important for them somehow, they can always make a new name for the Russian market.

Indeed. For example: I'm a big fan of Yammer which is a great name in English.

Introducing it to my Dutch colleagues is hilarious, though, because the name effectively means "that sucks" in Dutch ('Jammer' is pronounced the same).

Same in German.

But this is only relevant if they plan to expand to Russia.

The Chevy "Nova" was a good name in English speaking countries, they should have checked what the name sounds like in Spanish. So basically the point here is translate your product before entering new language markets.